Re: Branch Chain Amino Acids and nursing????

First, there are only 3 BCAAs in your list--valine, leucine, and iso-leucine--the rest are essential amino acids.

Second, BCAAs are abundantly available in whole, unprocessed foods such as muscle tissue and milk products. Consuming a high quality, hydrolyzed BCAA supplement is only "riskier" than, say, a steak because of the manufacturing process and inclusion of artificial sweeteners and preservatives involved in creating the supplement.

Third, appropriate supplement loading will still comprise only a fraction of the necessary BCAA intake required to preserve or build muscle mass. For a moderate sized woman (say, 130lbs), most nutrition coaches will recommend a peri-workout drink containing about 5g of BCAAs, possibly in combination with an insulinogenic carb like maltodextrin. This might fit in with a total daily BCAA intake of 10-20+ grams, depending on the athlete's goals. So it's not outrageous or out of line with dietary needs.

Could you accomplish the same results with whole foods? Sure, but it's harder to digest a chicken breast mid-lifts than to sip a workout drink. If you're feeling risk-averse, keep your total daily protein intake high--about 1-1.2g of protein per pound of lean body mass. Take in about 20-30g of protein with about 40-60g of nutritious carve within the half hour post-workout and you'll get a nice insulin response to fill your weary muscles. You could always take an unflavoured BCAA, but they're really acrid...they taste like aspirin!

Just don't lend credence to the locker room BS in the bodybuilding link about liver wasting. It's bunk. Check out the link below for some substantiated views. The author is a Johns Hopkns RD and the company owner is a PhD in nutritional biochemistry whose PhD research focused on nutrient timing and peri-workout supplementation. They train professional and Olympic athletes, many of whom are female.

Re: Branch Chain Amino Acids and nursing????

I should add that the reasoning is similar for creatine phosphate supplementation being safe. Google Cassandra Forsythe, another PhD, for her journey through pregnancy and nursing vis-a-vis nutrition and lifting benchmarks.

ETA: I should have mentioned that fruit isn't a good post-workout carb because fructose doesn't trigger the same insulin response as, say, glucose. Think sweet potatoes, brown rice, beets, etc.